Sinclair Oil to pay $3.8 million penalty for air pollution

Sinclair Oil has agreed to pay a fine of $3.8 million and install pollution controls at its refineries in Casper and Rawlins, to settle a lawsuit that the Environmental Protection Agency filed.

The EPA says the refineries exceeded federal limits on various emissions.

Sheldon Muller, a lawyer with the EPA, says the Casper refinery will have to install equipment to reduce nitrous oxide emissions by 50 percent, and the Rawlins plant has make changes to its flare gas recovery system, in order to limit sulfur dioxide emissions.

“That’s a fairly significant equipment modification that the company has to implement, and will result in some very good benefits to the public,” Muller said.

In 2008, Sinclair had reached a settlement with the EPA promising to reduce emissions, but the agency says the company violated the terms of that agreement. The current settlement is meant to resolve the dispute.